Ways to Protect Email Address on Website From Spam and Keep Your Inbox Junk Free

If you’ve ever had your email address displayed on a website, chances are email harvesting bots have found it and are now flooding your inbox with spam emails. There are a few things you can do to stay protected from annoying advertisements and phishing emails.

DoNotPay Is What You Need to Protect Email From Spam Bots Without Hassle

Encrypting your email address using JavaScript or adding CAPTCHAs may sound daunting if you’re not tech-savvy. Using DoNotPay is a simple and efficient solution that prevents you from receiving spam emails, and it could even earn you some money. Using our app only requires a few steps:

1. Sign up in your web browser.
2. After logging in to your account, click on the Spam Collector option from the menu
3. Enter your email address in the box to connect it to DoNotPay
4. When you receive any junk mail, forward it to spam@donotpay.com

That is all it takes to unsubscribe you from the sender’s mailing list. Using DoNotPay makes it easier to join in on a class suit and get some revenge as well. In case of an existing class action against the sender, you will receive a notification that helps you join the lawsuit. Once you do so, you’ll see a flag in the Spam Collector tab that notifies you of a settlement if the case is won.

Change Your Email Format to Protect Email From Spam

The simplest way to hide your email address from harvesting bots is to change the address’s format. There are several ways you could do this:

1. Spelling it out
2. Adding a picture with contact details to the site instead of writing it out
3. Replacing some of the characters with words. For example, use [at] instead of @.

If you spell out your email address or replace a character with a word, it will be harder for bots to extract your address. This approach has some disadvantages:

• The address wouldn’t be clickable, which makes contacting you less convenient
• Uploading a picture with contact information is likely to slow the website down
• It can be taxing for users with visual impairment, as the text-to-speech programs wouldn’t be able to read the writing on the picture

More advanced bots can recognize the address even if you replace the characters, so you won’t be entirely free from spam emails.

Hide Email from Spam Bots by Using Contact Forms

If you don’t want your email address displayed on the website, contact forms are the way to go. They also allow you to get useful additional data that the user might not remember to include in the email. You can do this by adding more required fields to the form. Some advanced bots could still get around contact forms and send you a message through the form, but you can take care of that by adding a verification code or CAPTCHA.

While using contact forms seems like an efficient and easy way to end spam email abuse, it has some drawbacks:

• Having so many fields to fill out is annoying for users
• Some of them prefer to write an email to you so that they can keep their copy of it or send it to multiple addresses
• They might want to add your email to their contact list for future interaction or share it with others.

How to Use Google ReCAPTCHA to Protect Email on Website from Spam

Google reCAPTCHA allows you to check if a user is a bot or a real person before they’re granted access to your email. A simple task such as typing out slightly distorted letters, solving easy equations, or clicking on specific images are presented to the user. If solved correctly, a verifying check will appear on the bottom of the form. Spam bots are not able to handle these tasks and will be filtered out.

The issue with this approach is that it makes contacting you less accessible for visitors with visual impairment. Solving CAPTCHAs requires more effort, which makes the experience less user-friendly. While it does effectively stop you from receiving spam, setting up reCAPTCHA also requires a little more work. You would need to register for the service and add reCAPTCHA JavaScript to your HTML page.

If you’re tech-savvy and you like writing the code for your website, you could even opt for a more sophisticated way of hiding your email address from harvesting bots. Some of the more common methods include adding ROT13 and HTML comments into your code that won’t be visible on the site's browser view. This thread gives some more ideas on different ways to encrypt your address when coding.

DoNotPay Helps Keep Your Mailbox Free from Physical Junk Mail Too

Spam mail is a nuisance that affects your offline life as well. If piles of unwanted advertisements, pamphlets, or event invitations are clogging your mailbox, you will find DoNotPay’s services useful. All you need to do is snap a quick photo, and DoNotPay will auto-unsubscribe you from the sender’s list. Not only will this block spam and free you from having to empty your mailbox, but there are other benefits as well:

• Protecting you from scams
• Claiming cash from class actions against the senders
• Protecting the environment by cutting down on paper used for the advertisements and pamphlets

Removal of your address from the mailing list is guaranteed, and it won’t waste your precious time.

Other Issues DoNotPay Can Help You With

DoNotPay has more solutions to offer its users than just clearing out your inbox and unsubscribing you from unwanted junk mail. Whether you’re facing problems online or offline, DoNotPay has you covered. You can access DoNotPay from your web browser and pick from the many services we offer:

• Dealing with issues with credit cards
• Disputing traffic tickets
• Jumping the phone queue when getting in touch with customer service reps
• Helping you send demand letters to people and companies in small claims court
• Scheduling a DMV appointment fast and easy
• Getting refunds for delayed or canceled flights
• Contesting parking tickets
• Canceling subscriptions or memberships
• Dealing with bills you are unable to pay
• Protecting yourself from stalking and harassment
• Getting revenge on robocalls
• Helping you free yourself from spam mail forever
• Fighting speeding tickets
• Getting refunds from companies